Category coherence in children's inductive inferences with cross-classified entities

Abstract

Items rarely belong to a single category, but rather can be cross-classified into many categories, each serving a very different basis for induction. Presently, little is known about how children determine which category to use for induction in cross-classification situations. This research examined the role of category coherence in children's and adults’ (N=329) inductive reasoning about cross-classified entities. In Study 1 and 2, participants were presented with a person who could be cross-classified into two categories, one coherent and the other incoherent. Category coherence is the extent to which members of a category and/or the properties of a category make sense together, given one's background knowledge. The results showed that by age 5 years, children are systematic in their use of coherence, tending to select the coherent category to inform their inference about the person. There is weaker evidence for 4-year-olds. Study 3 and 4 revealed that 4-year-olds have an appreciation for coherence in tasks of categorization. The results of Study 5 demonstrated 5-year-olds’ and adults’ tendency to use coherence when reasoning about cross-classified entities across different induction tasks. Overall, these results contribute to our emerging understanding of how and why children select some categories versus others during induction with cross-classified items.